


Affection

by orphan_account



Category: The Old Guard (Comics), The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Booker is still very French, Getting Together, Joe is also an oblivious idiot who can’t see Nicky loves him too, Joe is in love with one very oblivious Italian who isn’t reacting to any of his flirting, Joe is super Affectionate and Nicky is Confused, Joe is the Baby of the squad because I said so, M/M, and kind of an asshole but a lovable one, but by like three years so it’s not some massive age gap, everyone is an intellectual getting an advanced degree in something, idiots falling in love, like is this him flirting or is he always like this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:40:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 17,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25662262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Joe’s need to be physically affectionate with everyone he cared for was a source of endless confusion and frustration for Nicky.  What was he supposed to think of the soft touches the man bestowed upon him or his sweet words when he did the same to everyone else.Nicky was a complete enigma to Joe.  He couldn’t have made his crush on the older man more clear from the first day they had met and somehow they still had not moved beyond this odd dance around each other, Joe still trying to sort out is the stoic Italian even returned his feelings.Meanwhile Andy just needs them to screw already so she doesn’t lose that bet she made with Booker.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 163
Kudos: 597





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> General FYI, the squad is getting their degrees in the US because that’s the educational system I’m most familiar with.

Joe was not what Nicky had been expecting. 

When Andy and Booker had described him, had said one of their closest childhood friends was going to be studying abroad at the same university they were completing their graduate studies at, they had failed to mention just how affectionate the other man was. How casual and free with his touches he was. Sometimes it was a hand on the shoulder, a hug in greeting. A newer development now that he was clearly comfortable with their little circle of friends was a soft kiss dropped on a cheek. Each was given liberally to seemingly any person he deemed worthy of the affection any time he saw fit. 

It was equal parts utterly adorable and terribly confusing for Nicky who had fallen half in love with the other man shortly after they had met and Joe had started spouting off poetry in Italian with a perfect accent before switching over to French, then Arabic, and finally ending in English. 

So far today Nicky had been spared from having to sift through his complex emotions for the younger man as he had been spending the bulk of his day trying to grade all of the essays from the class he was a TA for without wanting to hurl himself off a cliff because they were so utterly awful. He cannot really clearly recall his freshman year of undergrad, and English wasn’t even his first language, or his third for that matter, but surely he was not this terrible of a writer even then. 

They had sequestered themselves in the basement of the library, he, Booker, Andy and Nile, the other three working to finish something they probably should have started weeks ago and was now due tomorrow. 

Andy was in the last year of her studies, picking up a PHD in History with a focus on ancient empires. Booker was very slowly working his way towards PHD in philosophy, and Nile was on the final year of yet another masters program and was collecting degrees the way one collected coins. Last Nicky knew she was on the way to completing her third, this time in Art History. Nicky was two years out from completing his own PHD, History like Andy but with a focus on the history of the Catholic Church. 

Nicky wasn’t entirely sure what time it was at this point, the lack of windows and the fact that they had chosen a table between two of the stacks meant they hadn’t had a glimpse of the outside world since they had walked into the library that morning, but he knew it was long enough as the words on the pages in front of him were starting to blur together and his focus was rapidly declining. 

All of this meant that Joe’s timing was perfect. 

“You know most people don’t wait until the day before their 30 page dissertation is due to start working on it,” he commented sardonically, leaning over Booker to glance down at the laptop, “you misspelled Sartre’s name in the third paragraph.”

“Yeah, yeah fuck you too Joe,” Booker commented, pushing the younger man away from him with a laugh only to have Joe dodge away from his hands before quickly leaning in to drop kiss to Booker’s temple and putting a greasy bag from that sandwich place just off campus they all loved on the table and then pulling out four coffees from no where and placing them next to the bag. 

“Is that really how you talk to the man who has brought you the only meal you’ve probably had to eat all day,” Joe laughed in return, moving around the table, ruffling Andy’s short hair despite the death glare she leveled at him, a hand on Nile’s shoulder as he looked down at what she was working on before he sat down in the empty chair next to Nicky, knocking his ankle against Nicky’s as he settled in, leveling a soft smile at the other man that had Nicky burying his face back into the paper he had been grading in an effort to prevent the others from seeing the blush rising to his cheeks. 

“Oh my god you are a saint Joe,” Nile commented before fishing a sandwich out of the bag and reaching for a coffee.

“The one on the right is yours, black two sugars,” Joe said before grabbing another and passing it to Andy, “Black with a shot of Espresso because apparently you like your coffee to taste like death and you never want to sleep again,” the next to Booker, “espresso with a shot of whiskey for the functioning alcoholic,” and the last to Nicky, “and a decaf coffee with cream for our resident Italian who is sane enough to know that caffeine after a certain time is never a good idea.”

“How long have we been down here?” Nicky asked, trying not to snatch his hand away when Joe’s brushed his as he handed the cup over to him.

“Not entirely sure, what time did you get here this morning?” He asked in return. 

“Nine,” Andy responded for them, finally setting her own work aside to grab a sandwich before slamming her hand down on Bookers laptop ignoring how he had to snatch his hands back to avoid it closing on them and how he hissed a series of profanities at her in three different languages, none of them his native French. “Eat Book, you’re done and if you keep re-writing that last page your conclusion is going to end up being dog shit.”

Booker for his part didn’t snap back or fight her on it, instead just grabbed a sandwich and started eating. 

“And you haven’t left at all?” Joe asked, surprise clear. The first thing Nicky had noticed about Joe was how expressive he was, well second after seeing how the younger man was stunningly handsome, and it was truly endearing that you could almost read everything Joe was thinking just from a glance at his face. Or maybe it was just that Nicky was paying such close attention. 

“We can’t all be working on our undergrad in Art you know, some of us like a degree that challenges our minds a bit,” that was Booker. It wasn’t said with any malice or meant unkindly, it wasn’t even accurate since they all knew how challenging Joe’s choice of major really was, but it was obvious it struck a bit of a nerve in the way the smile fell off Joe’s face and his eyes narrowed. 

Joe was several years younger than all of them and had come over to the States to finish up his last year of study before he moved on to get his Masters or PHD - or decided to become a starving artist and endless disappointment to his parents as Joe himself often joked. Nicky had to imagine he had heard similar jabs at his choice of study a time or two so even though Booker had meant it in jest the comment likely cut deep.

Still, even as quick as it had come the sad look was immediately replaced with a wide smile, “yes that’s why it’s taken you nearly a decade to finish your PHD, if only you’d chosen something easier like Art,” Joe snarked as he leaned back in his chair, one arm landing lazily across the back of Nicky’s chair, his hand beginning to toy with the sleeve of Nicky’s shirt in a way that was more than a little distracting for Nicky. 

“Children,” Andy admonished, shutting down Booker and Joe’s playful banter. “But seriously Joe we haven’t been that long it’s only....”she trailed off as she fished her phone out of her bag and looked down at it for the first time since they got to the library. 

“10 pm,” Joe finished for her eliciting a hiss of surprise from the rest of them. “You know it’s astounding the four of you have lived this long without someone around to remind you to eat and stuff. You sure your not all just immortal gods or something masquerading as graduate students?”

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop himself “if one of us is a deity it would certainly be you.” Nicky could have kicked himself for how that came out. 

Joe murmured something back in Arabic, a smile across his lips and a soft look in his eyes as he looked at Nicky. Nicky’s Arabic was rudimentary at best but he thinks Joe had said something about him being too kind and then called him sweetheart. 

This was one of the many frustrating things about Joe. He was so open and affectionate that Nicky was having a difficult time discerning between what was flirting and genuine romantic interest from the man and what was the simple affection he bestowed upon everyone. 

“Get a room,” Andy tossed a crumpled up piece of paper at them, hitting Nicky in the side of the head with uncanny accuracy. 

“Hmmmm, I would but unfortunately the ridiculous roommate they have saddled me with has decided 10 pm on a Sunday is an appropriate time for a party.” Because he was an international student and had transferred to the university on rather short notice Joe had the misfortune of being stuck in the university dorms rather than off campus in a house or apartment like the four of them were. To make matters worse, the roommate he had been placed with, something Merrick Nicky thinks, was an utter shit. 

“You mean that asshole hasn’t flunked out yet?” asked Booker through a mouthful of sandwich. 

“Sadly no, despite being a grade a human shit stain, he’s actually a tiny bit intelligent no matter how much I loath to admit it and even if he did fail all his classes I’m sure mommy and daddy’s money would keep him around far longer than I would like,” Joe let out a deep sigh before turning to face Nicky, his big dark eyes widening to resemble the look of a kicked puppy, hell he even got his lower lip trembling a bit before he dropped his request on Nicky’s lap, as though he even had to go to such lengths when he surely knew Nicky would say yes to anything he asked. “Any chance I could crash at your place tonight? Andy and Nile both have 8 am classes to TA for some ungodly reason and like hell I’m staying with Booker in his shit hole apartment,” that elicited a faint “hey!” from Booker and sent both of the girls into fits of giggles.

“My apartment only has one bed and the couch is hardly comfortable,” Nicky protested. For the sake of his own dignity he wasn’t sure he could handle having Joe in his apartment, alone, for an entire night. 

“We can share the bed, I don’t mind,” Joe said with a wide smile, that smile slipping away almost immediately as he must have read the hesitance in Nicky’s face and suddenly he was back peddling. “Unless that makes you uncomfortable, just forget I asked I can always figure something else out, or deal with Booker’s disgusting....”

Nicky felt like an ass suddenly and cut him off before he could get further, “no, no it’s fine, you can stay with me. It will be nice.”

The wide smile Joe gave him in return made his heart melt a little. Jesus he was so far gone for this man. 

It was going to be a long night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now for a little of Joe’s POV

Ok so Joe may have told a little bit of a white lie. It wasn’t so much that Merrick was throwing a party in their dorm as he had already thrown one and had been passed out in the bed when Joe had stopped in to change clothes before heading out to get food for everyone. 

Which means he didn’t exactly need a place to stay, but at this point he was running out of ideas as to how he could possibly make it more obvious that he was head over heels for Nicky. He had tried everything he could think of, flirting, touching the other man whenever he was within arms reach, always taking the open seat next to him. Hell he had even worn those absolutely ridiculous short shorts Andy had given him as a joke - which ha jokes on her, his ass looked fantastic in those shorts - that one time they had played beach volleyball together just to see if he could get a rise out of Nicky. It hadn’t worked, instead there had just been this creepy group of older men that had hung around while they were playing, alternating between ogling Joe and the girls until Nicky had practically snarled at them to fuck off. 

So far absolutely nothing had worked and Joe was starting to doubt of the other man was even interested in him. He’d been so sure when they first met that some sort of mutual affection was blooming between them but as time passed he was less certain he hadn’t just misinterpreted everything. 

It hadn’t taken long for Joe to fall for Nicky when Andy had first introduced them. The way this soft sort of kindness shone through, a quiet gentleness that he’d never seen before. It had him tripping over his words and turning into a stuttering mess at their first meeting. Still there had been a heat in Nicky’s eyes that day that made Joe think that even if he hadn’t fallen as hard or as quick as Joe had he was at the very least physically attracted to Joe and that was something Joe could work with. 

Or at least he thought he could, now he wasn’t so sure. Maybe it wasn’t that Nicky was attracted to him, maybe it was just the intensity of his personality, that feral protective thing in him everyone seemed to miss simply because Nicky was so quiet and reserved that they never seemed to think there was much more to him.

Joe had gotten his first taste of it a week after they had met when Nicky and Andy had stopped by his dorm to see if he wanted to get dinner and they had the unfortunate luck of meeting Merrick and his creepy girlfriend. Joe wasn’t particularly fond of his roommate, but he hadn’t exactly hated him. The man wasn’t worth the time and energy to hate, he was more an annoyance. Kozak however did set him off a bit. The way she always lingered around and stared at Joe like he was something to be studied was very unsettling. But Nicky, the glare he’d leveled at Merrick when he’d made a ridiculous comment that was clearly grounded in islamophobia. It had looked like he was ready to murder him for a stupid insensitive comment Joe had heard millions of times in the past. And the protective way he’d tugged Joe out the door, arm slung low around his waist and a possessive hand in his hip, Joe was getting a little heated just thinking about it. 

Still, that had been months ago and he had gotten no where so maybe that was just Nicky. Maybe he was just protective of his friends and wasn’t actually interested in Joe as anything other than a friend. 

This was the last attempt at getting Nicky’s attention Joe promised himself. If this doesn’t work he’ll stop forcing his affections on him, it’s probably getting annoying at this point and it’s a wonder he’s even put up with Joe’s flirting for this long if he truly isn’t interested. Probably speaks to how kind Nicky is and how he never wants to put anyone out. 

The walk to the apartment had been short, Nicky’s place was just a few blocks off of campus. He lived in the same building as Nile, Andy and Booker, but the three of them had decided to keep working for a little bit longer - just an hour or two, Joe had made them promise although he doubted they would keep it - so it was just he and Nicky. It was a nice walk. Nicky, endlessly kind and attentive to everything in each of his friends lives, was asking after the piece he was working on for his sculptures class and then proceeded to be a sympathetic ear when Joe starts ranting about how much he preferred paper and charcoal to any other medium. 

By the time they got to the apartment Joe was feeling a bit of his confidence return, but with it an undercurrent of nerves started to settle in as well. 

Joe had been to Nicky’s apartment before of course, a small studio with little more then a bed and a small couch, more like a loveseat, and a few other bits of furniture scattered around. It was small and sparsely decorated, but still homey feeling and cozy. Joe also noticed there had been a few additions since he was last here. 

“You framed them,” he said, surprised at the way his own voice sounded a bit awed as he looked over at the pictures on Nicky’s wall. 

The smile Nicky gave him was soft, “I liked them, you’re a very good artist.” 

Now it was Joe’s turn to be the one to blush, eyes shifting from the pictures as he resolutely tried to avoid Nicky’s gaze, feeling almost bashful. “They’re just sketches. Nile, Andy, and Book make good character studies. Their features are so unique.”

Joe heard Nicky put his coat down before he was stepping over to Joe, turning him around to face him fully, a gentle hand under his chin nudging his eyes up till he was meeting Nicky’s gaze “should I feel insulted you’ve never used me as a subject for your art.”

God, if Nicky only knew. There were entire sketchbooks dedicated just to him. Not that this was something Joe could tell him so instead he was left to try to stutter out a few excuses before Nicky cut him off

“I’m joking, I’ve seen you drawing enough to know I’ve been a subject of yours a time or two,” damn, there was that stupid blush again. Nicky’s hand dropped away and he made his way over towards the bathroom, “I should have a spare toothbrush and some clothes that you can borrow, solo un momento.”

And then Joe’s left alone to get his raging hormones under control. Holy fuck why was Nicky so unfairly attractive in everything he did and why did he have to bust out the Italian. Languages were probably one of Joe’s single largest kinks, and he was self aware enough to know that he had many, many kinks, particularly when it came to Nicky. Nicky was once again a test of his control because of course he spoke not just two languages but seven. 

Joe still remembers the first time he heard Nicky switch mid-sentence from English to Italian, then immediately shifting to French to tease Booker and then to Polish as a taunt because it was the one language he spoke that the rest of them did not, before settling back into English. It was a minor miracle that Joe hadn’t just dropped to his knees and begged for his friend’s cock right then and there. 

Lucky for Joe he manages to get himself under control before Nicky comes back and hands him a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, already dressed in his own pajamas, “toothbrush is in the bathroom, if you need anything else let me know,” he says before moving over to the bed and slipping under the covers. 

Joe was quick enough in the bathroom, pulling his clothes off and folding them as neatly as he could, leaving them on the counter. In retrospect it might have been smart for him to pack a bag before leaving his own dorm but he hadn’t wanted to presume that Nicky would just say yes. 

The shorts Nicky had given him were a little tight, Nicky was a bit slimmer in the waist and thighs than Joe was, but they were still comfortable. The shirt, however, was practically hanging off Joe. The collar sliding down off of one shoulder. Joe had always known Nicky was a little broader in the shoulders than he was despite how slim he was overall. Also Nicky had always favored looser clothing, but it still surprised Joe how he looked in Nicky’s clothes. 

And that’s when it hit, he was wearing Nicky’s clothes.

It was something so soft and domestic Joe practically ached with want. To have this be his life, dressed in Nicky’s old sleep shirt, a toothbrush that was his at the apartment, knowing the other man was waiting in the other room. It was like putting all of his hopes and dreams in front of him and then telling him he couldn’t have them. 

Suddenly he can’t understand why he thought this had been a good idea, why he thought putting himself through this torture would help. 

If Nicky didn’t return his feelings he couldn’t change that and if that was the case then tonight would just end up being a bitter memory of everything he couldn’t have. 

He needed to talk to Nicky, needed to sort this out before he got too deep and this desire of his destroyed their friendship. Better to just be upfront, rip the bandaid off. It would be awkward between them for a while, but Joe was only staying in the States for another semester. Just another six months and then he could fuck off back to Cairo and wallow in his own embarrassment and disappointment in peace. Anything had to be better than this dance they were doing around each other and the constant possibility that maybe Nicky liked him too hanging in the air. 

He brushed his teeth quickly with a new sense of determination. He’d get this finished tonight. Talk to Nicky and if he was rejected he’d just gather his things and go back to his dorm and then hopefully be able to salvage their friendship at least a little bit in the days that followed. 

He’d had it all planned, all thought out by the time he left the bathroom. He was ready to say everything he needed to but it seemed destiny had other plans. 

Nicky was already asleep. His breath was deep and even. He was laying on his side, on the edge of the bed facing out, closest to the door, a space left behind him next to the wall for Joe. 

And just like that Joe felt all those plans go up in smoke. He couldn’t wake Nicky up, not when he looked so peaceful and especially not when he knew how hard this last semester had been, how rarely Nicky managed to get a good nights sleep. 

So Joe did the only thing he could, he slipped into the bed behind Nicky. He was careful to keep a little distance between them curling up on his side so he was facing Nicky’s back, knees tucked up as though he was trying to curl in on himself, trying to take up as little room as he could so as to not disturb the other man.

It took him almost an hour to fall asleep, but he did eventually, his last thoughts being about tomorrow. They would talk tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t be the only one who found Nicky’s shoulders really distracting during the lab fight. Like yeah he is generally speaking overall a bit smaller than Joe but like that shoulder to waist ratio *fans self*


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s happening.......we’ll sort of....

Nicky woke up before his alarm, which wasn’t terribly unusual, he did that more often than not. 

What was strange, however, was that he felt more well rested then he had in months. And also very warm. 

It took another minute for him to wake up enough figure out why that was. Right, Joe was here. In Nicky’s bed. Pressed up against Nicky’s back with one arm wrapped around his chest, hand splayed over Nicky’s heart. 

Somewhere through the panic attack that was rapidly settling in Nicky thought how utterly unsurprising it was that Joe was prone to cuddling in his sleep. That thought was immediately short circuited by the way Joe sleepily nuzzled at the back of his neck and Nicky then had to spend the next minutes willing what had now turned into a raging erection back into submission before Joe woke up and he really embarrassed himself. 

Thinking of Merrick naked did the trick well enough. 

Just in time too as he felt Joe begin to shift behind him, his arm tightening minutely, brushing his nose against the back of Nicky’s neck again before suddenly tensing up when he realized what he was doing and who he was cuddling.

Immediately the need to calm Joe, to make him more comfortable set in. It was an odd feeling overall, but not a new experience for Nicky as he’d felt this need many times since meeting Joe. 

“Morning,” he said, rolling over so he was facing Joe, nose to nose and giving Joe a sleepy smile. 

It was deeply satisfying to see Joe calm almost instantly, the tension leaving him as he returned the smile. “Morning, sleep well?” Joe asked, his voice still soft and hesitant, almost unsure sounding. Nicky didn’t like it, Joe should never feel uncomfortable or out of place - particularly in Nicky’s bed, and wasn’t that just such a pleasant thought-  
and he would do anything he could to make it stop, even if it meant putting a little more of himself out there than he was entirely sure he could without making his feelings for Joe blindingly obvious. 

So instead of being reserved with his words and emotions as he normally would he let his contentment shine through, “Mhmmm,” he hummed, dropping a kiss on Joe’s forehead before rolling out of bed. “Best I’ve slept in a very long time, you make a good space heater.”

He moved across the room towards the bathroom, just turning back briefly to look at Joe before closing the bathroom door behind him. He wasn’t entirely sure what to make of the dazed look on the other mans face, but he counted the small smile on Joe’s lips a win. 

—

They both got ready as quick as they could and found themselves at the cafe in the student union waiting for Booker, who they were meeting for breakfast, less than an hour later.

Somehow Nicky had convinced Joe to just borrow his clothes once more rather then dressing in what he had been wearing the other day. The oversized sweater was once again too large on Joe, just as the t-shirt he had borrowed the other day was, but the jeans were a little tight in exactly the right way and Nicky was starting to regret letting Joe leave the apartment looking like he did because once they made it on campus he caught more than a fair few people staring at Joe’s ass. 

Joe had been strangely quiet the whole morning. Occasionally starting to say something before trailing off again. It was odd and also beginning to set Nicky a little on edge, unsure if maybe he had overstepped this morning and made Joe uncomfortable in some way. 

He was saved from his own thoughts by Booker’s arrival. 

“Good morning my lovable assholes, how was the sleepover,” Booker sat down heavily in the chair across from Nicky, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “I’ll admit I’m a little surprised to see you both up and out of bed at 9 am. I thought at this point you’d both still be fucking.”

“Sebastien,” Nicky hissed, hand clenching so tight around the paper to go cup he was holding he was a little surprised he hadn’t crushed it. 

Joe’s face immediately went bright red and he started to stumble over his words before grabbing his bag, “um sorry...forgot I have to meet Copley at 10...need to get my portfolio....left it at the dorm...bye.” And just like that he was fleeing the table and Nicky was left to glare across the table at Booker.

“Why the fuck would you do that,” he hissed at the other man in French. 

The look on Booker’s face was completely dumbfounded. “Wait....so you and he slept in the same bed, he’s wearing your clothes, and he’s sitting so close to you that he was practically in your lap when I got here and you didn’t fuck,” Booker responded in English, clearly not as worried about anyone overhearing as Nicky was. 

“It’s not like that,” Nicky snarled before quickly forcing himself to calm down. “Joe is like that with everyone, it doesn’t mean there is any romantic interest there.”

Booker just raised and eyebrow and gave him an incredulous look. “He’s just affectionate,” Nicky insisted. 

“He kissed you in the cheek two days ago.”

“He kissed you in the temple last night!”

“Arm around your waist last week for the entire hour we were at that soccer match, he fell asleep with his head in your lap when we were studying in the quad on Friday.”

“He does that with everyone,” Nicky insisted once more. “He’s just very free with his affections.”

Booker just let out a deep sigh before leaning over the table and looking Nicky dead in the eye. “Andy, Nile and I went over to Joe’s dorm right after you left, Merrick wasn’t throwing a party.”

It took Nicky a moment or two to process exactly what Booker had said, what it really meant, but when he did it felt like a sudden punch to the gut. “You mean...”

“The kid was looking for an excuse to spend the night at your place and just made one up because he was tired of you not picking up on all the hints he was dropping, yeah, that’s exactly what’s going on here.”

At that exact moment everything started to click into place, the way Joe had looked at him this morning, how quiet he was, the way he had hugged Nicky’s sweater around himself as though never wanted to let go of it or this moment. God Nicky was so stupid, the mixed signals he had been sending Joe’s way this entire semester all because he was too consumed by his own self doubt. The poor man was probably didn’t know what to think. 

The need to fix this, to make Joe feel better, to make him feel loved and cared for like he fucking deserved set in almost immediately. Nicky was standing before he could even think about it, reaching to get his book bag , “I need to speak with him.”

Booker grabbed his arm and pushed him back in his seat, “no, you need to go TA a class in thirty minutes and give him some space, Jesus Nicky for someone who has such a high level of emotional intelligence the kid is a real blind spot for you.”

“I need to fix this, he needs to know how I feel.”

“And if you immediately chase after him now he will second guess himself and think you’re just trying to clean up after my stupid comment and getting with him because it will keep the peace in our little family. Joe’s fucking brilliant when it comes to most things and a spitfire who is usually the most confident one in the room outside of Andy but he’s a complete idiot with regards to you and he has been second guessing as to if you’re attracted to him since the moment you both met. You do this now his self doubts that are tied to how he feels about you are going to just poison his thoughts and make him come up with some crazy conspiracy for why your telling him this now.”

Nicky just buried his face in his hands. Shit, all this time they could have been together but he’d just been so blind, “How do I fix this,” he muttered, half to himself, half to Booker. 

“It’s Joe’s fault just as much as it is yours Nicky, if you two had just used your words instead of this weird ritualistic dance around each other we wouldn’t be here right now.” Booker went to stand up, swiping the untouched coffee Joe had left behind as his own in the process. “Look, you can’t tell him I told you this, it’s sort of our thing, but if you go down to the art building this afternoon he’ll be in lecture hall 102. He’s working on that project for his sculptures class. He’s really touchy about it, doesn’t want anyone to see it in person cause he doesn’t think it’s good enough. He showed me a few weeks back cause he needed some more muscle to get part of it moved. I’ve been hanging out there with him most days since to work on my dissertation, it’s quiet and the kid makes good company when he’s focused on his art.”

Nicky wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to wait that long to fix everything, to make sure Joe knew exactly how he felt, but he also trusted Booker with his life so he would do as he had been told. “Thank you.”

“Just go and get your shit together Nicky, you two pining after each other was cute when it started, now it’s just annoying.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If Joe seems a little OOC here to anyone just know we’ll be diving into that a bit in the next chapter. Basically it has a lot to do with how his feelings for Nicky are all tied up and he’s never felt this way before and is very bad at processing that feeling.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is just a very, very short look into where Joe’s head is at and the next chapter is going to be way longer and from Nicky’s POV but I wanted to drop this short bit in quick before that.

Joe’s love life had always been messy. He thought more often with his heart than his head and it got him into trouble a time or two. 

It made him fall for the wrong person and then he fell out of love as quickly as he had stumbled into it once he figured out his other half’s true nature. On a rare occasion or two it had left him heartbroken, completely unmoored when the person he had been so sure was his soulmate no longer felt the same. But even then he had been quick to bounce back, to find something or someone else to pour his love and energy into. 

His mother used to say he had a poet’s soul, so desperately in love with the idea of love that he often leapt before he looked. It’s partly the reason his parents had been so unsurprised when he came out as pansexual when he was nineteen. Of course his love wouldn’t be bound by gender, it fit with his very nature his father had said before promptly reminding him that even if his soulmate did end up being a man his mother was still expecting grand babies. For all that his parents were astoundingly progressive, they had moments where they could be deeply traditional.

But this was different. Nicky was different.

In the past Joe had always been loud and brash with his affections, quick to give them and utterly unafraid of rejection. 

Until Nicky. 

Nicky was beautiful, and kind, and endlessly gentle while still being fiercely protective of his friends. Joe was desperately in love with him in a way he had never been before with anyone else. Everyone who had come before paled in comparison to Nicky and Joe could already tell that no one else would ever be able to fill the place in his heart that Nicky now occupied. 

He was special, and for the first time in his life Joe was terrified by the prospect of someone not returning his love. 

That morning had been a bright glimmer of hope, a gentle kiss on his forehead that sent electricity up his spine. Nicky practically forcing Joe into his clothes when he had argued he could just wear his clothes from yesterday and stop at his dorm to change. How they walked so close together, hands brushing together from time to time. For a few brief moments Joe had thought this was going to be it, that they were finally taking that last step. The very thought of it had left him speechless unable to process everything he was feeling and unable to give voice to all the things he had promised himself he would tell Nicky. 

And then Booker had arrived and it all shattered like glass around him. 

The way Nicky had hissed at their friend, the venom in his tone. As though the prospect of he and Joe together was something insulting.

Clearly Joe had just misinterpreted everything. 

Before he could think too deeply on it, before he could process much more than the initial sting, he was on his feet making some excuse about having a meeting with his advisor, a lie, and then fleeing from the student union as quickly as he could. 

The crisp November air didn’t do much to make him feel better, but it at least let him clear his head enough to realize he didn’t really have any place to go. He’d set his schedule up so that he didn’t have any classes on Monday, using the day to spend more time in the studio working on the various projects he had. He certainly wasn’t about to go back to his dorm and face Merrick when he was feeling like this. 

It was still early in the day, but he doubted Dean Copley would mind if he borrowed the key to the lecture hall he was using to finish his sculptures project. Yes, that would do. Hopefully it would be enough to get his mind off of the sharp pain in his chest every time he thought of Nicky.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have zero self control. This chapter wasn’t supposed to be posted until Saturday, but instead I decided that staying up until midnight last night to work on it was an appropriate course of action.
> 
> Also much love for all the comments and kudos, them keep me moving!

Nicky somehow miraculously made it to 3 pm that afternoon before the deep rooted need to find Joe became too much.

He wasn’t entirely certain what he would say to Joe. He’d never been particularly vocal when it had come to his emotions in the past. He had never needed to when Andy, Nile and Booker could read him so easily and know exactly what he was feeling. Up until Joe no one else’s opinions on his thoughts or feelings outside of that group had really mattered to Nicky. 

But now? Well, this was different and he was feeling a bit lost as to what to do. 

He’d been so blind for so long, stupidly assuming it was just Joe’s personality, that he was just flirty and affectionate. Now that Booker had pointed it out he was able to clearly see all the things he’d missed. 

Yes, Joe was handsy with everyone, but his touches lingered with Nicky. Yes, he was a notorious flirt, but with Nicky there was an undercurrent of heat with every word and every lingering glance. 

He has to wonder how he missed it for so long. Self doubt perhaps, or maybe just fear of the unknown. Nicky has never been in love, at least not romantic love. Had never even felt a vague inclination in that direction until Joe had come into his life. The idea of losing his heart so completely to someone was a terrifying thought. The thought of that person rejecting his heart and handing it back to him bloody and bruised even more so. 

But he wouldn’t let that fear get in his way, not anymore. 

He swung through the little bakery they both loved and grabbed some baklava and a coffee for Joe. For as much as Joe teased all of them about not taking care of themselves and forgetting to eat or sleep, Joe was far worse with that regard than any of them besides Andy. Nicky still remembers that week when Joe had been studying for three different mid terms and had gone four days without eating anything more than a piece of toast and an apple. It had scared Nicky witless when they’d finally gone down to drag him from his dorm room and Joe had promptly passed out the moment he had tried to stand up from his desk. 

When he finally made his way down to the art building it was closer to 4 and most of the classes for the day were over with only a few students still milling around the first floor. 

He found the lecture hall easy enough. Gathering up the courage to open the door and go in was another thing entirely though. 

He still hadn’t really worked out exactly what to say so he figured action might be a bit more the way to go. He’s always been much better at showing than telling in that regard and despite how fond Joe was of flowery prose and beautiful turns of phrase, they’d danced around each other long enough and Nicky had a feeling he might just appreciate it if they got directly to the point. 

As per usual, things didn’t exactly go according to plan. 

Nicky had finally worked up the courage and was just reaching for the door handle when suddenly the door was flung open and he was staring directly into the eyes of Copley, the Dean of the art school. 

“Mr. di Genova, what a pleasant surprise,” Nicky had taken a few Art History courses from Copley back when he was finishing up his undergraduate degree and it had been years since he had seen the Dean so he was a bit surprised he even remembered his name. 

Copley was blocking most of the door so Nicky couldn’t see too much of the lecture hall, but Joe was visible just off to the right, standing at the bottom of the steps leading down into the hall fiddling with some glass and wire in his hand, so Nicky didn’t miss the way his head jerked up and his eyes widened in surprise. 

“Just stopping in, I thought Joe might need some food,” he responded, half for Joe’s sake and half in the hopes that Copley would not linger too long. 

“That’s very kind of you, and well timed, I believe Mr. Al-Kaysani is almost done for the day. I have to admit, when he chose metal and glass for his medium as opposed to traditional stone or clay I was a bit concerned, but the result is quiet stunning.” With that Copley was stepping around Nicky and headed down the hall. 

With Copley now out of the way he had his first look at what Joe was working on and let out a sharp breath. 

“Oh Joe, it’s beautiful,” and it really was. Joe had taken thick coils of copper wire and twisted them together into the form of an ancient oak, large, shining roots supporting a great trunk that was broader than Joe was as branches reached up to brush the ceiling of the lecture hall. Shards of green glass and crystal had been affixed to the branches in an attempt to mimic leaves and it looked as though he was just about half way through their placement as many of the branches were still bare. 

Joe blushed bright red at Nicky’s praise, “it’s not anything that requires a lot of skill, it’s just wire and glass but Copley seems to like it. He thinks they might put it in the middle of the quad, name it after a donor or something.”

Nicky started down the steps towards Joe, the tree and his own curiosity about the project making him momentarily forget his purpose in coming here. “How are they going to get it out of the room.”

That had Joe letting out a short bark of laughter, some of the tension he had been carrying in his shoulders unwind. “They’re renovating this wing of the building after this semester. I think their going to blow one of the walls out or something to put in a big bay window so you can actually see the outside world and will just take it out when they remove that wall. The departments really heavy on studio courses this semester so this lecture hall never gets used and Copley thought it would be a good place to work on the tree when I first proposed the project to him.”

“Hmmm, well that’s very efficient of them.” Nicky prided himself on the fact that his comment drew another bright smile from Joe, even if it didn’t quiet reach his eyes. “I brought you baklava and coffee,” he added, holding up the bag and cup to show Joe before placing them on the table next to them. 

Joe must have sensed something else was afoot because some of the tension seemed to snap back into place and he looked down once more, fiddling studiously with the glass and wire in his hands. “You didn’t have to do that.”

Nicky took a few steps closer until he was standing right in front of Joe. He reached out slowly, telegraphing his movements, one hand taking a hold of Joe’s wrist while the other pulled the wire and glass from his hands and placed it in the table next to the coffee before that hand came up to curl behind Joe’s neck, fingers brushing into the dark curls there. 

“What....” Joe started to say, but Nicky cut him off completely using the grip he had on his neck and wrist to tug him in for a firm kiss. 

The kiss was chaste, little more than a press of his lips, but Nicky felt heat roll down his spine at the way Joe practically melted into it, going soft and pliant beneath his touch, one hand coming up to twist into the front of Nicky’s shirt. 

Nicky’s hand slipped up into Joe’s hair, shifting to deepen the kiss only to have his movements abruptly halted by the hand on his chest pushing him away, creating just the barest bit of distance between them, noses brushing as Joe’s eyes opened and he looked directly into Nicky’s. 

Joe’s next words almost broke Nicky’s heart. “Don’t,” he started to say, voice shaking. With that word Nicky felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. Had Booker been wrong, had they all been so completely wrong? Luckily Joe didn’t pause for long. “Don’t feel like you need to do this as some sort of a pity fuck or because you think it’s what Book, or Nile, or even Andy are expecting from us. I can’t handle being the only one invested in this, in us. If you don’t genuinely think you could grow to love me then you can’t do this to me, it would shatter my heart beyond repair.”

Somewhere in the back of his mind Nicky recognizes that they would eventually need to address where Joe had gotten the notion that Nicky was even capable of that sort of cruelty, but for now they had more pressing matters to address. 

“Oh you foolish romantic,” Nicky murmured in Italian, thoroughly enjoying the way that Joe’s eyes went dark and the full body shiver the other man gave. “I have no intention of treating your heart so callously, you deserve nothing less than everything I have to give.”

Slowly a soft smile made its way across Joe’s lips, his eyes lighting up as Nicky responded in kind before gently pushing Joe backwards until his back was pressed of against the trunk of his sculpture, their lips coming together in clash of tongues and teeth before settling out into something gentler. 

Nicky’s hand went down to tug at Joe’s leg, hitching his thigh up against Nicky’s hip while the other remained where it was, thumb pressing against the hinge of Joe’s jaw, forcing his head back against the tree to give Nicky better access. 

Joes grip on Nicky’s shirt returned, his other hand coming up to wind into Nicky’s hair, a sharp tug and the way Joe nipped at Nicky’s lower lip punching the breath out of Nicky’s lungs and forcing him to pull away in an effort to regain his senses. 

That had been a severe miscalculation when he caught sight of Joe’s swollen lips and his blown out pupils and Nicky found himself diving back in as quickly as he had pulled away, this time using his thumb to press Joe’s chin up so he could have full access to all of the deliciously sensitive parts of his neck. 

He knew he’d found a particularly lovely patch when Joe let out a positively obscene moan, hips rolling into Nicky’s in a way that had Nicky biting back a gasp of his own. 

“Someone might see us,” Nicky murmured against Joe’s throat, half out of the desire to ensure no one else ever got to see Joe like this and half so that he couldn’t bear the blame if someone did catch them. 

“Let them,” Joe growled out, jerking Nicky’s head back up so he could kiss him again. 

Still, the warning must have sunk in a little as the frantic energy between them began to dissipate and turn soft and slow, eventually ending with them pulling apart, Joe pressing his forehead against Nicky’s, eyes closed as they simply breathed together for a moment and collected themselves. 

“Let me take you out, properly,” Nicky found himself saying, voice soft and low, for Joe’s ears only. 

Joe’s eyes fluttered open and Nicky found himself getting lost once more in the soft fondness he saw reflected there. “Tonight?” Joe asked. 

“I’ll pick you up at 8, enough time to change and eat I think,” Nicky responded as he slowly, and very unwillingly, detangled himself from Joe’s grasp, resolutely ignoring the soft noise of disappointment Joe let out.

“I’d like that.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well.....the boys relationship is getting pretty steamy pretty fast so a ratings bump is likely coming in the next chapter or two.
> 
> Also to preface, the way I read Nicky and Joe’s relationship is that there is a lot of give and take. Nicky is usually the calmer, almost softer one but you push his buttons just right, and Joe is for sure a pro at that, he can snap pretty quick. Meanwhile I think Joe is someone who while he is more vocal about his feelings he’s also not afraid to step back and let his man take control a bit.
> 
> More or less I don’t necessarily see either of them falling into the roles of “oh this ones the more passive less expressive one who is shyer about sex and this ones the more aggressive temperamental one who is completely free of any sexual inhibitions” in their sexual chemistry and neither one is afraid to express themselves.
> 
> Essentially, versatility is sexy so enjoy a little bit of Joe being a little brat and Nicky putting him in his place this chapter. As this fic gets longer at some point we’ll see the roles reversed and will get to see Nicky being all soft and sweet too I’m sure.

“Mama, no, I don’t need help picking out an outfit,” Joe whined through the phone, kicking the door shut behind him as he re-entered his dorm, extremely thankful that Merrick was not around. 

“No, no I’m not going to FaceTime you, it’s a first date not a proposal.”

He put his phone on speaker quick as he started to rummage through his closet, looking for something appropriate to wear. Nicky had said to wear something warm but hadn’t really given Joe much detail beyond that as to where they were going. 

“I’ve just never heard you talk about anyone like this before Yusuf, he must be very special,” damn how perceptive his parents were, he’d said literally three words about what his plans were for tonight when his parents had called and somehow they’d figured out he was going on a date and that it was different than the other times he’d dated over the years. Also he was still completely confused about why they were calling when it was after 1 o’clock in the morning their time. 

“Mama why are you even up right now,” he asked, almost crowing triumphantly when he found his leather jacket in the back of his closet. 

“You’re Baba has an early flight to the Netherlands, I’m just taking advantage of the fact that we are up to talk to my favorite child.”

“Only child,” Joe responded tugging the sweater he had been wearing off and swapping it for a t-shirt. As much as he wanted to stay wrapped up in Nicky’s clothes forever, Nicky had specifically said they should change and Joe figured it made sense to find something new to wear. His jeans however, those he was definitely keeping on, he had noticed the way Nicky’s eyes had lingered on his ass in them and how his hand had stayed at the base of his spine, fingertips brushing below the waistband from time to time, as they had made their way out of the art building. 

“Semantics,” his mother responded. “But I mean it Yusuf, be careful, you sound half in love with the boy already and I just don’t want you to get hurt. You give your heart so freely and one day there is going to be someone who is going to break it for good.”

Joe felt himself choke up a little at that, his mother couldn’t possibly know exactly how he felt about Nicky, he hadn’t even said enough to give her even a hint of how deep his feelings for Nicky ran, but still her comment hit close to home. “I will Mama, now I really do need to go, tell Baba I love him and to fly safe.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too,” he finished quickly hanging up and throwing his jacket on. 

Perfect timing too as there was a sharp knock on his door. Joe glanced at his phone again, 8 pm sharp, punctual as ever. 

When he opened the door He saw Nicky, dressed fairly casually in a navy jacket and jeans and before Joe could think too much of his next actions he leaned in for a quick kiss. 

“Hi,” he said as he pulled away, “I missed you.”

Nicky’s gentle smile at that made Joe’s heart melt, “it’s only been 30 minutes since we parted.”

“I could have an eternity with you and still even a moment away from your side would be too much,” the words were out before Joe could stop them and he could have kicked himself. He’d only just won Nicky over and now he was about to scare him off my being clingy, how could he be so stupid. 

Lucky for him Nicky seemed to be just as smitten and only responded by pulling Joe in for another kiss, lingering for a moment and allowing the heat to build between them before he pulled away. “Incurable Romantic,” he commented as he drew back, taking Joe’s hand in his own and lacing their fingers together and tugging Joe out of his room and down the hall towards the parking lot outside the dorm. 

“You never said where we were going,” Joe commented as he let Nicky lead.

“It’s not so much where we are going as how we are getting there,” Nicky responded with a secretive smile as he pushed the front door to the building, holding it open for Joe. 

What he saw in the parking lot had Joe letting out a sharp noise of surprise, whirling around to face Nicky. “I didn’t know you had a motorcycle, how did I not know that?”

Nicky just shrugged, “I don’t need it much on campus, Andy and I occasionally take it out on the weekends but even that’s rare. You don’t mind if we ride it, it’s not too far where we are going but I thought this would be nice.”

Joe had to wonder if Nicky somehow knew exactly what he was doing and was actively trying to push Joe’s buttons. Joe turned around, pulling Nicky in by the lapels of his jacket for another kiss, this one a lot filthier then the last. “You sure we actually have to go somewhere and I couldn’t just convince you to take me to bed?” He asked as he pulled away. He wasn’t entirely sure what had changed between Nicky’s arrival and now - most likely it was Joe suddenly realizing he had a massive thing for attractive men and motorcycles - but at some point he had gone from being very excited for this date to being much more in favor of just forgetting the entire thing and falling into bed together. 

Nicky just smiled and pecked Joe in the nose before pulling away and grabbing a helmet for Joe. “As tempting as that is, I promised you a real date and I intend to see that through.” He pressed the helmet into Joe’s hand with a sly smile, “what we do after, now that is up to you.”

Well that’s just an entirely unfair thing to say when he’s about to climb into a motorcycle and sit behind a man who was apparently the embodiment of his walking wet dream. 

Still, he pulled his helmet on, got himself under control and climbed on behind Nicky who was in the process of securing his own helmet. 

“So, um I’ve never ridden a motorcycle,” Joe started, a little awkward and not entirely certain what to say or where to put his hands, or even how close he should be sitting behind Nicky. 

Nicky reached back, grabbing both of Joe’s hands and pulling them around his waist. “Just sit as close as you can and hold on tight.”

So Joe did as he was told, wrapped his arms around Nicky’s waist, plastered himself against is back and tried very hard not to let out a half terrified half joyful squeak as they tore out of the parking lot. 

He failed on that front spectacularly 

As they rode Joe found himself getting more comfortable. Nicky was clearly an incredibly good driver so it not as though Joe had to be particularly worried on that front so he let his mind, and his hands as well, begin to wander a little. 

Nicky let it go for a while and Joe started to push a bit further, see how far he could go before the other man snapped and hopefully decided to forgo the date and take Joe home. 

Nicky didn’t react much when Joe slid a hand beneath his shirt in the front, the muscles in his stomach contracting was the only way you would have even known he had noticed the touch. The fingertips sliding along the waist and of his jeans caused his leg to jerk forward a bit when they were at that stoplight, but nothing much otherwise. 

The hand on the thigh though, high and so close to where Joe wanted it to be, that elicited a pretty spectacular response. 

Nicky was suddenly veering off to the side of the road out in the middle of nowhere - seriously, Joe is pretty sure they were pulled off next to a corn field, where were they supposed to be going anyway - and killing the engine before Joe could react. He pushed the visor of his helmet up and twisted around so he could face Joe, the hand that had been on his thigh held in a a vice like grip and for a moment Joe was concerned he had overstepped.

“If you keep this up I’m not going to be able to focus for long and I’m going to have to pull you off this bike and have my way with you in a field in the middle of no where.”

“You’re making a very good argument for me to keep going,” Joe hadn’ realized that all he had to do to bring out this more possessive, almost feral side of Nicky was be a bit of a brat, he should have tried this much sooner and then maybe it wouldn’t have taken them quiet so long to get together. 

Nicky, however, showed pretty quickly that he was just as capable of fucking around with Joe. The smile he gave Joe was eerily calm as he leaned forward, getting his face as close to Joe’s as he could while they were both still wearing helmets. “I could fuck your now, on the side of the road, but if I do that will be the last time I touch you tonight and it will be very fast. If you’re patient, and if you can keep your hands to yourself for the rest of this ride and the ride home then I’ll take you back to my apartment tonight and make sure to take you apart as slowly and thoroughly as I can, multiple times.”

Joe let out a low whine, “that is so not fair.”

“It’s your choice.”

“You’re sure I can’t convince you to go for both options?”

“Nope.”


	7. Chapter 7

Nicky wasn’t naive or a stranger to sex and attraction. He’d had sexual partners before, never anyone who was more than a one night stand and never anyone he’d cared about but he wasn’t completely oblivious to how potent a physical connection could be. 

Still he had not been prepared for just how desperately he wanted Joe and he certainly hadn’t been prepared for the other man to be a terrible tease. 

From the moment Joe had opened the door, in that jacket and still wearing Nicky’s jeans, he had wanted to just forget the entire date and push Joe back into his tiny twin bed in his dorm room and never leave. Then Joe had had to go and make that adorable declaration and Nicky was even more smitten than ever before. It was amazing how the man could shift so quickly from the gentle romantic poet to being sin incarnate and then back again in the span of minutes. 

And then that motorcycle ride. Ok so Nicky had been taking a bit of the scenic route and may have circled the same four country roads four or five times to extend the ride a bit longer but he certainly hadn’t expected Joe’s touch to start wandering as much as it had. 

His mind had sort of gone blank when Joe’s hand had ended up on his thigh, extremely close to where both of them very much wanted it to be and the next thing he recalled they were pulled off the side of the road and Joe was pouting adorably at him beneath his helmet but agreeing to the terms Nicky had laid out. 

Joe had kept his hands to himself for the remainder of the ride and eventually they made it to the bar just a town over from their little college town. It wasn’t much to look at from the outside, the building a little run down on the outside, but it was nice and homey inside, set up like an old English pub. Booker had discovered it about two years ago and they had been frequenting it ever since. 

Nicky led Joe over to the usual table they occupied when it was just one or two of them, a nice private high top with two chairs in the front pushed up against the window so you had a clear view of the outside, before going over to the bar to grab drinks for them. 

When he returned with two hot teas and a plate of sweet cakes he could easily read the surprised look on Joe’s face. 

“You don’t drink and I’m driving, the main reason I brought you here is the owner’s wife is from Turkey and makes delicious Revani,” Nicky offered by way of explanation. “Booker and Andy like this place for their whiskey, Nile and I like it for the food.” 

The smile Joe gave him was blinding. “I’ve never said anything before, I didn’t think you had noticed, I didn’t think anyone had.”

“We’re more attentive than you would think a group of intellectuals would be and I notice most things about you Joe,” Nicky found himself saying before he could stop, looks like both of them could be sappy romantics. 

Somehow Joe’s smile grew even wider and he reached across the table taking Nicky’s hand in his own and lacing their fingers together. “It’s perfect, and my family has moved so often I can assure you I have acquired a taste for almost any cuisine so you don’t have to hunt for things that are familiar to me but it is still incredibly sweet of you and it just so happens Revani is one of my favorites.”

“If that’s the case I’m making Italian for you next time, I have some old family recipes,” Nicky was man enough to admit he was in very deep if he was already pulling out his mother’s recipes. 

They sat for a while, talking between themselves as they finished their tea and cakes, mostly sharing stories from their childhood, things they’d only mentioned in passing or never even got to talking about during their brief friendship so far. Turns out Joe wasn’t kidding when he said they’d moved around a lot. He’d been born in Tunisia, lived in Jordan, Morocco, France and even Greece for a time before his family had settled in Cairo when he was a teenager. His father owned a trading company and his mother, while technically not employed, handled much of the record keeping and finances for the company. He’d met Andy and Booker when he was ten and they were thirteen. They’d all gone to the same boarding school in France, and immediately got on like a house on fire despite the small age gap. Even after Andy and Booker had moved to the U.S. for College they had still spoken at least weekly. 

Nicky talks about growing up in Italy, going to school in Germany for a few brief years as a teenager and then coming over to the States for his undergraduate studies where he would meet Andy, Booker and Nile. He’d met Nile first, they’d had classes together freshman year. Booker and Andy came second, almost like a package deal rounding them out into a quartet. When they had decided to continue on at the same university for graduate studies the choice had been easy for Nicky, he wouldn’t have left his new family behind for the world. Nicky even found himself confessing that it had been Booker who made him realize he needed to talk to Joe, that he had been so blind before that and couldn’t believe he had missed all the signals Joe had been sending him. 

Eventually the conversation starts to fade and Joe clearly decides he’s waited long enough, “so, I think I was promised some incredibly thorough, mind blowing sex back at home and I’d very much like to get to that as quickly as possible. Want to get out of here?”

“If I really wanted to be cruel I could say no and make you wait.”

“But you won’t.”

“No, I won’t,” Nicky admitted, standing up from the table and pulling out his wallet, leaving behind more than enough to cover the tea and cakes before he tugged Joe to his feet, enjoying the way the man stumbled into him just a bit too much. “Think you can keep your hands to yourself for the ride home.”

Joe stepped in close, one hand on Nicky’s hip pulling them flush against each other, thumb rubbing rather distractingly over the peak of Nicky’s hip bone. He pitched his voice low as he spoke, “not sure, you going to circle the same field six times and turn a five minute ride into a twenty minute ride?”

Nicky should have known Joe would notice exactly what he had done. Nicky had been about to say something witty back, likely about how Joe must have been distracted and not counting properly because it had only been four times, when Joe’s hand slid around to his low back, fingers just dipping below the waist band of his jeans and suddenly all of Nicky’s words dried up. 

“Brat,” he managed to choke out after a moment. 

Joe just grinned in return. This was certainly going to be an interesting night. 

—

The ride back was short and Nicky may have ignored the speed limit and more than a few stop signs but the roads were deserted this time of night and he felt his urgency was completely justified with the way Joe had plastered himself to Nicky’s back. 

He took the steps up to the apartment two at a time, Joe’s hand held tightly in his. He was just about to fish his keys out of his pocket when a hand on his shoulder was turning him around and pushing him back against the door to his apartment, lips suddenly on his and a body pressing into him. 

The kiss was hard but Joe’s hands were gentle as the pressed between them, sliding up under Nicky’s shirt again to settle on his waist. 

Nicky’s own hands came up, one sliding around to Joe’s low back to hold him close, the other winding into Joe’s dark curls, using his grip to tug Joe back away from the kiss. 

Nicky took a moment to catalogue the low broken sound Joe made and created a mental reminder to explore that later. “Patience is not your strong suit is it my love?”

Joe’s eyes were half lidded as he looked back at Nicky, “I’ve wanted you, all of you from your stupidly attractive face to your endless kindness to the now very annoying way that you seem determined to turn me into an incoherent mess by taking entirely too long to fuck me, since the day we met. My patience wore out a long time ago.”

Nicky felt a sharp stab of heat low in his gut and the sudden urgent need to have Joe in his bed had reared up once more. “One minute,” he said, releasing his grip on Joe’s hair to pull his keys out finally, fumbling for a moment before shoving them in the door and turning. 

Joe’s mouth was back on his before he could even finish turning the handle, both of them stumbling through, Nicky kicking the door shut behind him before pushing Joe back against it. 

He might very well have had Joe up against that door rather than take the time to make it over to the bed but the sound of someone clearing their throat had both of them freezing up. 

When Nicky looked over his shoulder he was was greeted by the sight of his three best friends, Nile and Andy tucked together on the loveseat, Booker sitting on the ground in front of the small TV Nicky had, that honestly he hadn’t even bothered to hook up yet so they must have done it for him, all three looking at them wide eyed. 

Andy was the one who finally snapped them out of it. “Ha, pay up Booker,” she crowed, holding out a hand. 

“Yeah yeah,” Booker grumbled as he pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket and handed it over. “You know when I told you to go get Joe and tell him how you felt I didn’t think you two would jump into bed right away, I was two days away from winning that bet.”

“You bet on when we would sleep together,” Joe recovered from his shock a bit quicker than Nicky had. 

“In their defense they also had a bet on how long it would take you two to start dating but they both lost that one,” Nile chimed in. 

“We thought it would have been weeks ago,” Andy added. 

“How are you in my apartment, and why are you here?” Nicky finally found himself asking when he had recovered his wits, taking a half step away from Joe, allowing them both to move away from the door. 

“Andy broke our TV by throwing a kitchen knife at it last week, and Booker’s apartment is even smaller than yours,” Nile answered. 

“And Booker can pick locks,” Andy pointed down to the Frenchman who just held up a set of lock picks in response. 

“You actually have Joe to thank for that one, he’s the one who taught me.”

“You can pick locks?” Nicky turned to look at Joe, arousal momentarily forgotten. 

A blush settled in Joe’s cheeks and he looked down at his feet shuffling back and forth a bit. “When I was a kid my parents somehow forgot our keys all the time and we got locked out of the house constantly, so I sort of taught myself how to pick locks to help.”

It was so random and adorable Nicky found himself grinning, swooping in to peck Joe in the cheek. “That is possibly the most unique reason I have ever heard for someone learning a skill set usually reserved for thieves.” Nicky then turned back to his friends, “now you three, out!”

They protested, whined and complained about wanting to see the rest of the match, but eventually did as they were asked and Joe and Nicky found themselves alone again. 

“So, where were we again?” Joe asked with a sharp, predatory grin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I can’t write smut. I promise I tried so, so hard to do it but it just came out all wrong and I just like couldn’t. So instead I wrote a short little morning after bit.
> 
> But seriously, to any of my awesome readers who would like to write Nicky and Joe’s first night together in this verse please let me know!!!
> 
> Update: Someone write smut for me and it’s amazing!!!!!! (Something I never thought o would say but here we are).
> 
> Seriously a huge thank you to the_communist_unicorn for being the kindest and most generous soul and for writing something so steamy and at the same time so very cute. The fic has been linked as a related work to this one and Y’all need to go check it out.

Joe’s second experience waking up in Nicky’s bed could not have been more different than his first. 

No, rather than waking up pressed up behind Nicky and panicking this time it was the soft flutter of lips on his cheek that started to rouse Joe. The first touch was followed by another in his other cheek, then another press of a kiss to his nose, then his forehead and finally his lips. Joe tried to chase that kiss, to deepen it a bit more but Nicky wouldn’t allow it, pulling back with a soft chuckle as Joe cracked one eye open. 

“Too early,” Joe murmured, closing his eye again and trying to tug Nicky closer to burrow into his warmth. 

“You have class in at 10 and we both need breakfast after last night,” Nicky murmured in return even as he let Joe pull him closer. 

“Fuck class,” Joe muttered, his voice muffled from where he had pressed his face into Nicky’s neck, trying his best to hide away from the day and potentially never leave this bed, or allow Nicky to leave, again. 

“It’s your class on the intersection of philosophy and art that you love so much, the one that Copley only teaches every three years that Booker helps with,” Nicky was right dammit, he liked that class. 

“Fine,” Joe grumbled before pulling back away and letting Nicky climb out of bed, grabbing Joe’s discarded T-shirt from the night before and pulling it on. Joe took a moment to enjoy seeing Nicky in his shirt before he shifted a bit to stretch only to let a sharp yelp when he attempted to sit up. 

The noise immediately pulled Nicky back to his side, a look of concern on his face as he hovered over Joe. 

“Im fine,” Joe was quick to assure Nicky. “It’s been a while, just a little tender is all.”

Nicky didn’t look entirely convinced so Joe reached out to grab the front of Nicky’s shirt and pull him down for a soft kiss. “I mean it, Nicky. If anything all you’ve done is ruin me for all other men. No one will ever compare to your glorious dick and your overflowing generosity as a lover. I’ll have to be sure to return the favor soon.”

Nicky pulled back with a laugh, “good, but also you can always be honest with me, about everything Joe.”

Joe could tell he was smiling like a lovesick lunatic but he couldn’t really find the energy to care. “I know, and the same goes for you.”

“I know,” Nicky responded before leaning down to kiss Joe. “Now up, we really should be going.”

—

By the time they made their way to breakfast Joe found himself once more dressed in Nicky’s clothes even though they had stopped by his dorm to grab his books and laptop and Joe had had ample opportunity to change. 

They’d also been thoroughly embarrassed when they walked into the campus cafe and Nile, Booker and Andy started clapping loudly and drawing everyone’s attention. 

Joe didn’t really care, but he knew Nicky would hate it so he started shushing them as soon as they were close enough to do so. “Stop it, you all had plenty of time to make fun of us last night.” Joe gingerly took a seat at the table, Nicky sitting next to him and reaching out to take Joe’s hand, their fingers interlacing. Nile pushed two coffee cups and a muffin in their direction. 

“Yeah but publicly humiliating you both wasn’t something we had a chance to do yet, also you might want to actually look like you’re trying to cover up that hickey lover boy,” Booker drawled, pointing to Joe’s neck. 

Joe tugged at the collar of his sweatshirt, pulling it up to cover the livid bruise Nicky had left at the juncture of his neck and shoulder. 

“Rude.”

“I just call it like it is.”

“Stop being mean,” Nile smacked Booker on his arm, effectively shutting him up before turning to Joe and Nicky, “but we are happy for you both, this has been a long time coming.”

Andy just looked at both of them speculatively, “just don’t go hurting each other, I don’t want to have to murder one of you in defense of the other’s honor.”

Joe turned to Nicky and pulled their intertwined hands up, kissing the back of Nicky’s hand. “I could never intentionally cause Nicky harm and I think I speak for him when I say he feels the same but we’ll also do our best to avoid any missteps or miscommunications that might cause unintentional harm.”

Nicky took a sip of coffee in an effort to hide is pleased smile behind his cup. 

“Good,” Andy responded with a curt nod, “now what exactly are the plans for this weekend in New York?”

Some how In everything that had happened they had completely forgotten they had planned a long weekend in Nee York City this week. Andy’s girlfriend, Quynh, was an executive at some high profile firm in the city and while Andy made the trip to New York every month or so, this would be the first time they’d all gone as a group. 

Breakfast passed quick enough with planning and all to soon Joe was looking down at his phone realizing he had to get to class. “Sorry, have to get down to the art building,” he stood up grabbing his bag. 

Nicky stood as well. “I’ll walk you,” he stated taking Joe’s hand in his once more, pointedly ignoring the jokes and catcalls from the other three. 

“I’d like that.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummm so I wrote smut y’all. It’s short and not particularly great but I wrote it! Which also means ratings bump.
> 
> Comments and kudos always appreciated!

“You can’t be serious,” Nicky could almost hear the exasperation in Joe’s voice as they watched Booker pull up in front of Nicky’s apartment with their rental car for the weekend. 

“Andy’s car won’t fit all of us, mine won’t make it to New York without breaking down no less than five times and the rest of you heathens refuse to own a car,” Booker shot back from the open window of the driver side of a minivan that looked like something out of an old 90’s sitcom. 

“I prefer my motorcycle,” Nicky responded with a shrug. 

“I barely leave campus and if I do it’s to visit my family which means I’m flying,” Nile added. 

“I don’t even live in this country permanently, why would I buy a car,” Joe squinted as he looked the car over, “also will this thing even make it to New York?”

“It was the only one on the lot that would fit all of us, in case you forgot we go to school in the middle of literal no where so not many options in terms of rental places,” Andy said as she got out of the passenger seat. “Pack up, I’m going to grab my bags from upstairs and then we’re leaving,” she called back as she headed back towards her apartment. 

“Shot-gun,” Nile shouted. 

“No!” That came from both Booker and Andy. 

—

The van didn’t break down, miraculously, and they somehow managed to find parking relatively close to the Brooklyn AirBnB they had rented.

Andy had had them drop her off at Quynh’s Manhattan condo, promising to meet them all for later. This left Nile, Booker, Joe and Nicky to figure out their sleeping arrangements in the tiny, two bedroom rental. Nile took the smaller guest room, Booker the tiny couch in the living room, and Nicky and Joe got the master bedroom. 

“No fucking, we’re leaving in an hour,” Booker called after that as they shut the bedroom door. 

Nicky dropped his bag on one of the plush decorative chairs in the room while Joe went to explore the master bath. The rental was small overall but tastefully decorated and all very clean modern lines. The bed was also massive and while Nicky and Joe were very much not going to fuck on a bed in an AirBnB where, no matter how clean the place looked now, god knows what had previously happened, it was very tempting. 

“Nicky, you have got to see this shower!” 

Well, he guessed that would be an acceptable alternative to the bed.

—

They were ready to go out an hour later like Booker demanded, but it was a close call. 

“So is Andy going to make it or are we on our own,” Nile asked when they’d all congregated in the living room ready to go out. They all looked great, but Nicky was genuinely struggling to keep his eyes, and hands, off Joe with how good he looked. His shirt wasn’t exactly a crop top per-say but it was short enough that whenever he moved a certain way it lifted up a bit to show a thin strip of toned stomach. And those jeans. Over the course of the last week Joe and Nicky had both taken to stealing each other’s clothing almost daily as Joe had spent almost every night that week at Nicky’s and Nicky was really growing to appreciate Joe in his jeans. 

Booker glanced down at his phone before quickly shutting it off and shoving it into his pocket, face beet red, “ah, so her and Quynh are a bit preoccupied and I need to go bleach my brain cause I never needed that mental image.”

“Chances of us seeing them all weekend are slim to none,” Joe threw his arm across Nicky’s shoulder pulling Nicky in close. Joe was probably the closest of all of them to Quynh. Quynh and Andy has started dating when they were teenagers so Joe and Booker had been there since day one whereas Nile and Nicky had only met Quynh a small handful of times. “We’re going to be on our own most of the time so we probably need to get used to it.”

Nile turned to them, pointing an accusatory finger at Nicky, “no ditching us to fuck, I’m not being left alone with Booker.”

“Mhmmm, no promises,” Joe responded for them before kissing Nicky on the cheek, “but we will not pull an Andy and Quynh tonight so where are we going?”

—

Dinner was a short affair, greasy pizza at a shop right next door to their rental. After that they ended up at a club much to Booker’s dismay. Nicky didn’t love the idea of clubbing, isn’t a huge fan in most cases, but Joe adores dancing and Nicky would do almost anything to see Joe happy. 

And Joe and Nile’s sheer joy when dancing was positively infectious. So Nicky danced and he laughed and he held Joe close. It was the most fun he could remember having in a long time, hell somehow they’d even been able to drag Booker away from the bar and gotten him out on the dance floor, laughing and dancing along with them. 

Eventually the music shifted to something slower and Nile and Booker abandoned them in favor of getting something to drink at the bar. 

Nick had his arms slung low around Joe’s waist while Joe held him close, softly crooning into his ear as they swayed back and forth. 

“This is nice,” Nicky found himself saying, voice low, but he and Joe were so close surely Joe had heard him. 

“It is,” Joe responded. “I hadn’t really known what to expect but so far it’s been fun. Although I hadn’t exactly expected what I’m seeing right now to be happening,” Joe finished by twisting them around so Nicky was now facing where Joe had previously been looking and had a clear view of the bar where Nile and Booker were furiously making out. 

“Ah, yeah that happens once or twice a year, Nile’s fairly free spirited and endlessly compassionate and Booker...”

“Is a sucker for physical affection and intimacy, yeah he’s always been that way,” Joe finished for Nicky. “This isn’t going to mess with their friendship is it?”

“We sat them both down when it first started happening a few years ago, Andy and I were concerned Booker might be a little in over his head to be honest, and talked through it all. They love each other, but it’s completely platonic, this is just sort of an added perk to them, a little bit of fun and an opportunity to enjoy someone’s company without it having to be something deeper.”

Joe simply hummed in return pulling Nicky in closer. “So I guess this means we don’t have to worry about ditching them in order to fuck now?”

Nicky found himself chuckling, “surely you can’t be that insatiable, it’s barely been four hours.”

“What, your dick is glorious and I’d be mad to say I didn’t want it in my mouth again, even if it hasn’t been long, plus I didn’t exactly get to cum. Also you can’t convince me a quickie blowjob in the shower was actually that satisfying for you.”

It had been though. Joe was endlessly talented with his mouth and the way he’d taken Nicky down all the way without any real preamble had been almost enough to leave Nicky undone mere moments after Joe had dropped to his knees in the shower. At the end it had been Joe staring up at him with those wide dark eyes as he let Nicky practically fuck his throat that had done it for Nicky. 

Nicky had tugged Joe up immediately after, reaching down, intent on retuning the favor, but Joe had grabbed his wrist and stopped him, murmuring about how he was fine and they didn’t have time, they were already almost going to be late at this rate. Nicky had protested, but Joe had countered arguing that he wanted to take his time with Nicky later, to ride him until he was an incoherent babbling mess, and so Nicky had relented even though he wasn’t happy about it. 

Now, with the way Joe was pressed up against him and the sort of raw hopeful look in his eyes, Nicky was growing to appreciate the choice Joe had made for them. “You want to head out?” Nicky managed to get out after a moment, half question, half statement. 

“Very much so,” Joe answered, already tugging Nicky towards the door, Nicky just managing to get a text off to Nile and Booker telling them where they were going before he was pulled out into the chilly New York night. 

The walk back to the AirBnB passed in a blur and took way longer than it probably should have because Joe kept sneaking kisses in every dark alcove they came across. 

Eventually they made it, stumbling through the front door and back into their room, Joe pushing Nicky back on the bed before climbing on top of him. Suddenly any misgivings Nicky had had about having sex in this bed were completely gone. 

Nicky surged up, pressing into Joe’s kiss, hands sliding back into Joe’s hair and giving it a sharp tug, Joe pulling back with a curse. “fuck, don’t stop,” his voice raw as he ground down into Nicky.

“Too many clothes,” Nicky muttered, one hand leaving Joe’s hair to tug at the hem of Joe’s shirt, “off!”

Joe obliged, climbing off Nicky to get undressed, allowing Nicky enough room to get his own clothes off and soon enough they were both gloriously naked, crashing back into each other the moment the final piece of clothing had been discarded. 

Nicky had found himself wondering a few times over the course of the past week if he’d ever stop feeling completely desperate for Joe’s touch, if over time they’d settle and that the passion would fade into something softer and less urgent. In times like this, when every one of Joe’s touches felt like they might set Nicky aflame, he couldn’t really begin to imagine what that distant someday might look like and all he could think is that he would never not want Joe the way he did now. 

Nicky tried to shift a bit, Joe seated across his lap, hand reaching for Joe’s cock as they kissed, only to be brought up short by a firm hand in his chest, pushing him back down into the pillows. 

“Nope, let me do the work tonight love,” Joe leaned over the side of the bed, fumbling through one of their bags for something and Nicky found himself left with what was an all too enticing opportunity.

He brought his hand down across Joe’s ass with a sharp crack that had Joe jerking forward, a low whine leaving his throat. “Not fair,” he whined as he continued digging through their bag. 

Nicky palmed the spot where he had struck, the skin warm to the touch, “you liked it.”

“I did, Joe admitted, finally straightening back up, bottle of lube in hand, “but this isn’t supposed to be about me right now and I’m supposed to be half way through making you forget anything other than my name, not the other way around so I am going to need you to refrain from any other sort of actives that might stop me from achieving my goal,” Joe had to swat Nicky’s hand away again when it reached for his cock. “Stop that, no distractions.”

“How bout I make you a deal,” Nicky genuinely had no clue where this side of him had come from, something about Joe maybe that dragged out that that adventurous side of Nicky that wouldn’t hesitate to vocalize exactly what he wanted or how he felt. It was such a sharp difference from the tentative almost fearful way their relationship had started and to see such a stark change in his confidence in Joe’s feelings for him in the matter of just a week was shocking. Still he couldn’t help but feel safe with Joe, to know Joe felt the same and it made him want things he’d never had before, things he could tell Joe wanted too. “You get to have your wicked way with me now, but the moment we get home I am tying you to our bed and I’ll have you for hours.”

“Fuck,” Joe hissed grinding their hips together in a way that robbed Nicky of his breath, “Nicky you can’t keep saying stuff like that when I’m on top of you, it’s going to make it that much harder to draw this out.”

“Do we have a deal?”

“Yes, fucking absolutely yes.”

“Good,” he reached for the lube, only to have Joe pull back, holding it just out of his reach. 

“What did I say about just laying back and letting me do the work. We made a deal now stay still.”

So Nicky did as he was told, despite how difficult it was to refrain from reaching out and taking the other man in hand when he began prepping himself, moaning wantonly and pressing against Nicky as he reached back behind himself. Nicky found himself gripping Joe’s hips so hard in an effort to not break his promise and just flip Joe over and take him that he was sure there would be bruises come coming. 

Eventually Joe’s patience wore out as well and he decided to stop torturing Nicky. 

The noise that came from Joe when he was finally seated, Nicky’s cock pressed deep was positively sinful and had Nicky jerking upwards into him with a choked off noise of his own. “Move,” he rasped out, practically begging. 

Joe obliged him of course, hands planted in Nicky’s chest for leverage, shifting up before slamming his hips back down into Nicky’s with a grunt, the frame of the bed shaking a bit with the force of his thrust. Joe started to move in earnest now, setting a pace that was just this side of too slow but also so deliciously wonderful. 

Nicky tried to speed things up, hands trying to tug Joe down to meet each of his thrusts, grinding up into Joe with each movement, but Joe was having absolutely none of it and stubbornly maintained to the slow slide of their bodies in a way that was driving Nicky mad. 

“Joe, love please,” Nicky found himself begging as his hands began to wander, sliding up across, Joe’s torso, back across his perfect ass, fingers brushing where they bodies joined, Joe letting out a soft whine at Nicky’s touch. 

Still that must have been what Joe was looking for because he began to pick up his pace a little, breath coming a bit more quickly as Nicky started to drive up into their thrusts a bit harder. 

Nicky knew the moment he had hit just the right spot when he felt Joe shudder above him letting out a short shout of pleasure. That was the last tether of Nicky’s control as he surged upward, one hand winding into Joe’s hair holding him in place for an absolutely filthy kiss while the other hand gripped Joe’s hip, speeding up their movements. 

Joe, for his part, was so far gone that he didn’t really object, arms draping over Nicky’s shoulders to hold him close, swallowing each grunt and moan that Nicky offered up with his kiss. 

“Nicolo,” Joe murmured as he pulled back, pressing their foreheads together, just breathing in each other’s space as Nicky’s hips snapped upwards. Nicky could feel his own climax building low in his gut but he was determined to push Joe over the edge first, to see his lover in the throes of passion before seeking his own completion so he drove into Joe harder and faster until words had escaped Joe and all he could do was make those gorgeous little broken sounds. 

“Let go Yusuf,” Nicky murmured, snapping his hips up and tugging at Joe’s hair. That must have been exactly what was needed because suddenly Joe was clamping down on him and shouting Nicky’s name as he came. 

Nicky wasn’t far behind Joe, just three quick thrusts before he was spilling into the other man, completely overwhelmed by the sudden sense of love and devotion he felt towards Joe. It would have been terrifying had it been anyone else, too quick with anyone else, but Joe had so thoroughly inserted himself into Nicky’s life that it somehow felt right. 

They sat for a moment just breathing with each other before Joe lifted himself off of Nicky, wincing as the man slid out, and flopped next to him uncaring of the mess they had made. 

“You cheated,” Joe muttered when he finally caught his breath, tucking himself into Nicky’s side, nuzzling behind Nicky’s ear, completely uncaring of the mess that he was. 

“Hmmm,” Nicky hummed in return, “in my defense you are very difficult to resist.” He pulled Joe closer, arm curling around his waist, pressing his nose into Joe’s hair and just sinking into the moment. “We should get cleaned up.”

Joe’s arms tightened around him minutely, “just a few more moments, please.”

Nicky pulled back just enough to see the soft sleepy look in Joe’s eyes, the quiet contentment and affection clear as day and before he could stop himself the words had left his lips, “I love you.”

He tensed immediately, wanted to take them back the moment he said them, but not because he hadn’t meant it. Certainly not, he had loved Joe for months at this point. No he wanted to take them back because it was too soon in their relationship and he didn’t think he could take the sting of rejection so early on if Joe didn’t feel the same. 

Of course with all things, Joe managed to surprise Nicky once more. “I love you too, I’ve loved you for who knows how long,” his voice was soft, run through with emotion, but Nicky could tell when Joe pulled him in for a soft, slow kiss that he meant every word. 

“We’re losing our deposit.”

“Probably.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I officially owe everyone a massive apology for how long this took. 
> 
> I knew that juggling four fics at once was a terrible idea....did that stop me...nope it certainly didn’t. 
> 
> But in that note, enjoy some adorable ness to get from a to b. We’re in the homestretch now with just three or four chapters left and very possible a fairly large time jump to the future for the epilogue.

Joe woke up curled around Nicky, arm across his chest and Nicky’s hand on his where it rested over Nicky’s heart. 

It had only been a week but Joe was growing accustomed to waking up like this. The past week had been a dream, they’d been almost inseparable with Joe spending nearly every night at Nicky’s.

And the sex! Even the most rushed interaction between them, the quickie blow job in the extra office that was shared by all the TA’s in the history department, had been the most phenomenal sex he had ever had. 

Last night had been particularly intense. He certainly hadn’t expected Nicky to be the first one to get to actually saying I love you -to be completely frank it had been on the tip of Joe’s tongue last night and Nicky had just beaten him to the punch- but the profession of his love couldn’t have been more perfect. 

Needless to say Joe was tired, sore, and incandescently happy.

“I can almost hear you thinking.” Ah, so Nicky was awake too. 

Nicky turned over in Joe’s arms so the we’re facing each other now, nose to nose. Joe, unable to maintain any sense of restraint in the presence of a soft and sleepy Nicky, leaned in for a gentle kiss. 

“It’s nothing important, just thinking about how happy I am,” he answered when he pulled away from the kiss. 

That got a wide smile from Nicky that warmed Joe down to his soul. 

They lay there for a few moments longer until noise from the other room seeped in under the door. 

“We should get up,” Nicky said, even as he pulled Joe in closer, tucking himself under Joe’s chin and curling into his chest. 

“We should,” Joe responded, resting his chin atop Nicky’s head. 

Neither one made any move to get out of the bed. 

It wasn’t until 20 minutes later, when someone pounded on the door and Booker shouted “wake up assholes,” that they would finally get out of bed and drag themselves over to the shower, moving as quickly as they could knowing the others were waiting but still taking some time to enjoy the soft domesticity of getting ready together. 

Shortly after they were standing in the living room again, arm in arm as they watched Booker try, and fail to hide a hicky high on his neck beneath a scarf and Nile was wearing a pair of sunglasses inside in an attempt to stave off a hangover. 

“So, what’s the plan for today,” Joe may or may not have been a little perkier than usual just to see how much he could annoy the two of them. It worked too if the glare Booker leveled at him was anything to go by. 

“Breakfast, maybe wander some museums, figure out other ways we can kill some time and then meet Andy and Quynh for dinner and hopefully this time they won’t ditch us.” Nile glanced down at her phone “it’s only 9 so we’ve got a lot of time.”

Just then Joe felt his phone buzz in his pocket. When he pulled it out there was a message from Andy, it was cryptic and short enough to be a little worrying. 

Need help, Central Park, don’t bring Nicky. 

“I think I might actually have to pass, Andy needs me to meet her at Central Park.” Nicky glanced over Joe’s shoulder, brows coming together and a concerned frown on his face as he read the message. “I think it will be ok, I’ll let you know if it’s anything bad,” Joe took Nicky’s hand in his, squeezing it in reassurance. 

Nicky just pressed a kiss to Joe’s temple. “Text or call whenever you’re done and we’ll meet you.”

“I will.”

—  
Andy was sitting on a bench, head in her hands when Joe finally found her in Central Park. 

She didn’t speak when he sat down next to her and after a few beats of silence Joe was starting to get worried. “Did something happen Andy?”

Andy didn’t respond, didn’t even lift up her head and instead just reached down into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a small black box, flipping it open with one hand to reveal a stunning engagement ring with a brilliant sapphire at its center. 

“Oh Andy it’s gorgeous,” Joe cooed, taking it from her hand. “It’s for Quynh right?” That was a dumb question, why the hell did he just ask that?

“I don’t know how to ask,” she lifted her head up to look Joe in the eye. “I feel like I need to make it special.”

Joe just closed the box and passed it back over to her. “You don’t need to over think this one Andy, you could ask Quynh on a random Wednesday in the middle of her living room and she would say yes. She’s not marrying some big fancy proposal, she’s marrying you so the only thing that matters is that you’re the one asking.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t want to give her a proposal that she deserves.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it. Look, do you actually think Quynh would want something big and flashy?” Andy just shook her head. “Then don’t try to give her something like that. Figure out something that fits for both of you, something that you’ll both remember without putting too much pressure on the actual act of the proposal.”

Andy just hummed in acknowledgment, straightening up completely and tipping her head back towards the sky, eyes closed. “I knew you’d be helpful for this.”

“Any reason you wanted me to keep Nicky away fro this particular discussion? You know he would have just said the same thing and he certainly wouldn’t tell Quynh before you got to popping the question. I mean making sure Booker didn’t know, sure, I get that since he can’t keep his mouth shut when he gets drunk, but Nicky and Nile would be able to keep it a secret.”

She cracked one eye open, side-eying Joe in a manner that only Andy ever seemed able to pull off. “Yo can’t focus for shit when Nicky is around, never could, and I needed you focused for this.”

“Rude.”

“Accurate.”

“You good now?” Joe asked after a few beats of silence. 

“I think I am”

“Good,” Joe stood up, shooting off a quick text to Nicky letting him know they were done and asking where they should meet up. “I need to get back to the others and you need to get back to your soon to be fiancé.”

“Thanks again Joe.”

“That’s what friends are for.”

—

Joe found Nicky, Nile, and Booker at a small art gallery that was relatively close to the park and the moment he was within arms reach Nicky pulled him into his side, pressing a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth. 

“Everything ok.”

“Everything is great.”

Later that night as they walked into the restaurant Joe’s face broke out in a huge grin the moment he spotted the ring in Quynh’s finger.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Affection Joe/Nicky Sex Scene](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25977691) by [the_communist_unicorn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_communist_unicorn/pseuds/the_communist_unicorn)




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